The Modi government has pushed through the parliament a law called ‘The Waqf Properties Amendment Bill’ to govern the management of properties and assets donated by Muslims to these bodies over the centuries as charitable giving. The proposed bill seeks to formalize these donations with documentation raising the specter of government interference. It is feared that it will empower the government to gain unprecedented control over these religious properties. The proposed inclusion of non-Muslims on waqf boards, judicial intervention in disputes previously handled by waqf tribunals, and the creation of a centralized registry within six months all suggest an intrusive role for the government. These changes threaten to alter the delicate balance that has allowed India’s diverse communities to manage their religious affairs with a measure of autonomy.
It is pertinent to mention that Congress has expressed staunch opposition to this legislation and has also challenged it in the Supreme Court. The party has also expressed the resolve that it would continue to resist all assaults of the Modi government on the principles, provisions and practices that are contained in the constitution of India. The new legislation has already triggered protests in West Bengal and reportedly three people were killedand several dozens were injured police firing. Some police officials were also injured.
This is not the first legislative measure against Muslims by the Modi government. Stripping 1.9 million Bengali Muslims in Assam of their Indian citizenship, promulgation of Citizenship Amendment Bill, building temples on sites of century old mosques and the pogrom of Kashmiris are also outcomes of the implementation of the fascist and supremacist ideology of ‘Hindutva’. The communal politics persistently pursued by Modi government since his advent on the political scene as Prime Minister of India has transformed the country into a majoritarian state losing its much trumpeted secular creed. The minorities in India particularly the Muslims have been the major target of his hate against them aligned with ‘Hidutva’ philosophy of RSS; an organization which essentially came into being to fight the Muslims.
French Political scientist Christophe Jaffrelot specializing in South Asian affairs, particularly India and Pakistan points out that the ideology of the RSS along with other Hindu nationalist movements such as the Arya Samaj and the Hindu Mahasabha, thought of Muslims, Christians and the British as “foreign bodies” implanted in the Hindu nation, who were able to exploit the disunity and absence of valour among the Hindus in order to subdue them. However, majority of scholars believe that RSS was actually formed to fight the Indian Muslims. RSS believed that partition was a result of mistaken soft-line towards the Muslims, which only confirmed the natural moral weaknesses and corruptibility of the politicians.
No wonder then that the former Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in an article published in The Hindu on 6th March 2020 referring to the violence that erupted in the wake of promulgation of Citizens Amendment Bill observed Delhi has been subjected to extreme violence over the past few weeks. We have lost nearly 50 of our fellow Indians for no reason. Several hundred people have suffered injuries. Communal tensions have been stoked and flames of religious intolerance fanned by unruly sections of our society, including the political class. University campuses, public places and private homes are bearing the brunt of communal outbursts of violence, reminiscent of the dark periods in India’s history. Institutions of law and order have abandoned their dharma to protect citizens. Institutions of justice and the fourth pillar of democracy, the media, have also failed us. With no checks, the fire of social tensions is rapidly spreading across the nation and threatens to char the soul of our nation. It can only be extinguished by the same people that lit it.”
“It is both futile and puerile to point to past instances of such violence in India’s history to justify the present violence in the country. Every act of sectarian violence is a blemish on Mahatma Gandhi’s India. Just in a matter of few years, India has slid rapidly from being a global showcase of a model of economic development through liberal democratic methods to a strife ridden majoritarian state in economic despair.”
Modi’s hate against Muslims was also reflected by repeal of Article 370 of the Indian constitution that ended special status of the state, its bifurcation into two territories and their amalgamation in the Indian Union. Not only that, BJP government also promulgated laws to change demographic features of the state in blatant violation of 4 th Geneva Convention. The state was converted into an open prison and hardly and day passes when the Indian security forces do not kill Kashmiri youth under the pretext of cordon and search operation.
The Modi government has also adopted hostile posture towards Pakistan and all efforts by the latter to orchestrate bonhomie between the two countries have been spurned. It has also been sponsoring and supporting acts of terrorism within Pakistan and backing insurgency in Balochistan through BLA. Modi government also enacted false-flag operations like Pulwama to create anti-Pakistan feelings and winning the elections; a farce which now stands exposed. Using that incident Modi also sent planes to attack imaginary terrorist camp at Balakot where the bombs dropped felled a few trees. The adventure ultimately cost loss of two planes and capture of an Indian pilot when Pakistan retaliated against the Indian adventure. The encounter could have triggered a full-fledged war between the two countries but timely intervention by friendly countries and restraint shown by Pakistan prevented the eventuality.
Pakistan has presented dossiers to UN and a number of states on Indian involvement in terrorist acts on its soil as well as blatant violation of human rights in IIOJ&K but regrettably neither the UN nor those countries have shown any interest in stopping India in its tracks. Encouraged by this indifference by the UN and Western countries including US India continues to persist with her hostility towards Pakistan and Muslim bashing. They are actually promoting instability in the region which could ultimately harm Indian interests as well as their strategic commercial interests.
